Accents and Dialects for a game

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endianprime
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Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by endianprime »

Hello everyone, Its been too long.
Well it is the season for me to once again try and run my Ravenloft campaign, however during preparations I ran into a problem. I want the make everything feel more authentic and part of that involved getting the accents right. My initial adventure will feature about 3 accents and dialects but I'll be honest I'm pretty much in the dark on this. I'm still not even 100% certain what the difference between an accent and a dialect is. I'm also American which means all the accents I would be familiar with aren't really used. In addition I don't know the names of the accents of the world and its hard to associate a name to an accent when you don't even know what the accent is like. Basically, I need help.

Thankfully the help I need is seemingly and surprisingly limited. The Accents I need to learn are: Falkovnian, Mordentish High and Mordentish Low.


According the FoS FAQ:

Mordent is "Rural English countryside"
And
Falkovnia is "Part Hitler's Germany, part Stalin's Russia, part Wallachia"


and their languages are based on the following languages

Falkovnian – German
Mordentish, High – French
Mordentish, Low – Anglo Saxon


So here are my questions:


How do we know Falkovnian is German and not Russian, where is that information derived from? And the same for Mordentish High and Low.

So if Mordentish High is based on French does that mean Gennifer and Laurie have French accents?

What is a good example of a "rural English country side"

There are countless French and English accents Which should be used for the 3 accents I need?

Note: I'm not certain I'll be giving Gennifer and Laurie French accents even if they are supposed to have them because I've always seen them as having "proper" English accents. Still I like options, so please make some suggestions. Personally now that I am considering French as a possibility they could do really well with an accent like Liliana in Dragon Age: Origins.

Note: As much as I'd love to master more than one and really give the game some flare, I should keep it focused so I can master the 3 better.



Bonus Question

I am considering pronouncing Gennifer "Gen-I-Fer" as opposed to "Jen-I-Fer", I think it gives her a unique flair. Since I also plan on recording my sessions, I'd like opinions on how people feel about this pronunciation.

Final thought, if you come across any good sources of the accents; such as movies, speeches in it or tutorials on how, please post those as well.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by Skyrock »

For Mordent, just use BBC British. It is what most people instantly recognize as English accent and can much quicker place then Cornish and other lesser known rural dialects.
Here is just one of the dozens videos to give you a better grip on what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACC0O-EK-xM
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by endianprime »

Would you recommend the BBC English for High or Low?
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

The idea that Falkovnian=German, High Mordentish=French, and Low Mordentish=Anglo-Saxon/Old English is...actually, I think it's been around a while, but it's specifically and canonically referenced in the Gazetteer series, where each Ravenloft language is given an equivalent (usually a real-world equivalent, although Sithican is an exception and there may be others) to help the DM with flavor stuff. Like your questions!

I'd use accents based on where your characters are from, such that accents get "more foreign" as you get farther from where the characters are from. So if everyone is, say, Falkovnian, then you can skip the German accent (unless people want to practice their German accents, I suppose), use an English accent for Low Mordentish and a French accent for High Mordentish--on the idea that wherever your PCs are from is the baseline accent/way of speaking.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by thekristhomas »

High Mordentish : BBC, what used to be called Received Pronunciation
Low Mordentish : Cornish, but you'd probably be more familiar with Pirate, just add an "Ooh" before the "Arr" and that's fine
Dementlieu & Richemulot: French, just shrug a lot

Zherisian:

Upper Class: BBC but drunk
Middle Class: think Tom Hiddlestone or Benedict Cumberbatch
Lower Class: Cockney, think Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins, then forget that and think of a Guy Ritchie film, like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by ewancummins »

I think Mordentshire people should talk like people from the Cheasapeake or maybe the Tidewater. Not because of canon, really, but just because it seems fun and I could pull off such accents.
Last edited by ewancummins on Thu Aug 18, 2016 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by ewancummins »

Although some sort of Channels Islands dialect and accent might be the closest to the Anglo-Norman language implied by the GAZ materials, I suppose.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by endianprime »

Thanks for all the advice, I've started practicing my Russian accent today and I messed around with an accent for Mordentish Low which I believe to be British in origin but I'm not entirely certain, still for the first adventure there are only a few who use it so it should be ok. When I feel more confident with them perhaps if I can figure out how I will upload audio clips of them and see what you guys think.

No one gave their opinions on the pronunciation of Gennifer, I'd ask again for opinions. To re-state; I intend to pronounce it Gen-I-Fer as opposed to Jen-I-Fer, with a strong "Geh" sound for the G instead. I like it because it gives her something unique but I am afraid people may find it annoying, I just wanted general opinions to help me decide. Again thank you for all your help.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by ewancummins »

I say it witha J sound, but the G also sounds good.
It makes it more like Guinivere, which I'm fairly sure is the source of the English name, Jennifer.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by Five »

Speaking for myself, I've always viewed Low Mordentish as straight-up English. My personal "default" being West Country dialect, but I've never really be a stickler on it.

High Mordentish is Anglo-Norman. Standard stereotype French for myself, with some ignorance because I've never really been interested in developing it further.

The parallel between Mordent and Norman conquest of England is seemingly tit-for-tat. In regards to language anyway.

Either way for accents, I've always tried to parrot Jean Reno or Vincent Cassel in regards to High Mordent born folk speaking Low (my PC's default language). Both can be found in Crimson Rivers (some loose change in that movie for RL DMs, imo): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crimson_Rivers

A good range of low Mordent (in my view) can be found in the Sharpe series of TV movies (starring Sean Bean and Daragh O'Malley): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpe_(TV_series)
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by endianprime »

I say it witha J sound, but the G also sounds good.
It makes it more like Guinivere, which I'm fairly sure is the source of the English name, Jennifer.
-ewancummins

I like your point of view and I do find the origin of the name to likely as you suggest, it certainly gives it credence to us a "G" sound.

Five, I like your choices and useful access to information, I'll go over it tonight and likely download one for viewing tomorrow. Thank you for your thorough references.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by Five »

The following is a quick example of Newfoundland English, what some say is a bastard child of West Country dialect. I'll admit, it was easy for me and my original PCs because we all spoke it (or knew somebody who did), only with a lot less exaggeration. I've never actually written the pronunciation before so bear with me here...

* * * *

"Ye members dat ol battle axe down de way? Mudder used't say er name wuz somen r uder, Can't member fer'd life'a me now..."

"Dat old one wit de ugly warts n nest fer a ead? A face t'stop a clock? Yes b'y, I members. Knows nudding bout er name do. Use't scram us off when we wuz youngsters, screamin' n' bawlin'. Right cracked in de 'head she wuz. We ad a great owl at er at first, but den she got right scurry right fast. We all took to dodgin dat one real quick after dat. What'v er?"

"Yeah, dat's de spit. Well now de b'ys'r sayin she gone back to da ground a while ago now, I guess twas, but she got right up dere not a few nights after."

"Go on b'y. Don't be givin me de go..."

"Buddy, I'm dead serious. Old boot 'arold, old baccy fingers hisself, e swears up and down de row e seen er lurkin about. Dressed all in scrags an lookin right wrong in de face she was."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you remember the ugly old lady down the road? My mother used to know her name, but I can't think of it right now..."

"That old lady with the warts and unkempt/dirty hair? Ugly face? Yes, I remember her. I don't know her name though. She used to scare us off her property when we were children, screaming obscenities at us. She was crazy. We had good fun (howl) with her at first, but then she really scared us. We started to avoid her after that. What of her?"

"Yes, that's her exactly. The guys (mutual aquaintances) said she died some time ago, I guess it was, but she rose from her grave a few nights later."

"Are you kidding me? Do you take me for a fool?"

"I'm dead serious. Old man Harold, old tobacco fingers himself, swears he saw her walking around town dressed in rags, and her face looked...unnatural."

* * * *

"BBC" or "proper" English would certainly be easier to pull off, but if you can find a lexicon of so-called rural English (or derivatives of) and build your speech flow with it (it's absolutely essential!) it could pay out a more unique/memorable experience to your players. But that's just me.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by endianprime »

Five,

Thank you for the advice, I believe I know what your talking about with that accent, I could pull it up and take a look further.

So I watched this video on doing a Russian accent:

And I practiced it all day yesterday and I got fairly good for one day of practice but then in the evening I used Discord and actually tracked down a Russian to work with him on my accent and his was similar to mine in a lot of ways, far thinner than mine was and I may have had a thing or two off. It was hard to tell with the occasional bad audio quality. At any rate I really want to start game in less than a week and I think perfecting his accent would be too costly of my available time. I'll put up an audio file, likely later today and see what you guys think.

Five, if you use Discord (which is easy to download and install if not) and were willing, I'd like to work with you on the accent you mentioned earlier. It's be easier than tracking down someone with one. let me know what you think.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by Five »

endianprime wrote: Five, if you use Discord (which is easy to download and install if not) and were willing, I'd like to work with you on the accent you mentioned earlier. It's be easier than tracking down someone with one. let me know what you think.
I would be more than willing to work with you but unfortunately, in this regard, I don't think I could give you fair time. I'm currently working 13 hour shifts on a 24-4 schedule. Graveyard to boot.

I would however be willing and able to "convert" any important/key NPC dialogue you may want to use, if you want to go with a dialect similar to the one above. I can squeeze, poke, and bang out that during my downtime after shift...after family time calls of course.

To get you started with speech flow for Newfoundland English: think Irish. It's fairly common and easy to mimic and it's also our second parent. English-Irish (and some Scottish) fishermen and castaways who founded one of the oldest settlements in North America (500 years after the Norse. Not that that's recognized much by the history books :roll: ). But yeah. Speed it up to a stereotypical Irish accent and you'll pretty much have it down.

Like I said, if you want to shoot me some text I'd be more than happy to mould it into something that might have your players scratching their heads (until they gain enough exposure to it)...haha

Either way, I wish you luck.
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Re: Accents and Dialects for a game

Post by endianprime »

I appreciate it, I'll consider it but as it turns out I'm running out of time to prepare for this adventure, we begin Tuesday. I over-estimated the value of the time I have and am now just trying to lock-down the two more prominent accents I'll be needing which are French and Russian.

One thing however seems odd to me, whenever I read any of the Weathermay's writing such as the twins or George, It's hard to picture it in any particular accent, The twins at least I could see in a proper English accent but George I don't really hear one and French again could work for the twins but it doesn't seem to serve the whole family well.

Go through your mind and picture each family member with a French and then a proper English accent. Such as Lord Jules or George, George to me seems so rugged it's hard to picture him using an accent associated with class like proper English or one associated with romance like French.

I'm not sure, what are your (all) thoughts

(Edit)

I have worked on my French accent more and I have found other ways to use it are possible, I'm not good at them yet but I can see how I can make it sound a bit rugged to get George right and if I can do that then I'm sure I can rock out Jules and Daniel when the time comes.
Last edited by endianprime on Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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